Rank

The final BCS rankings at the end of the 2012 regular season. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Alabama Crimson Tide were ranked number 1 and 2 respectively. This means that Notre Dame and Alabama will meet in Miami on January 7th to play for the National Championship. This is the second consecutive year that Alabama has been in the National Championship game and the third time in 4 years.

Your average football fans tend to avoid paying too much attention to the national rankings in college football this early in the season unless there is some kind of controversy going on. Rightfully so since there is little reason to concern yourself with any ranking until the end of season where ranking has an impact on what bowl a team could possibly get invited to. That said I took a glance at the polls this week just out of curiosity and I was shocked at what I found. I couldn't believe that Alabama's 3rd string players didn't get more love from the voters than that after the beating they put on the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The football team begins the season ranked No. 2 in the USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, as the preseason rankings were released on Thursday. The Crimson Tide will face three of the teams in the top 10 including No. 1 LSU, No. 8 Michigan and No. 10 Arkansas.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of Alabama men’s basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the Southeastern Conference this season as voted on by the league’s media in the annual preseason media poll. The Crimson Tide’s JaMychal Green was also named preseason first team All-SEC and received one vote for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. [Read More]

After a surprisingly eventful weekend in college football, the new BCS rankings came out on Sunday night with some big moves both up and down the board. LSU and Alabama remained the top two teams after their victories this weekend, but the Oklahoma Sooners and Wisconsin Badgers both felt the pain caused by their losses to Texas Tech and Michigan State, respectively, as they each plummeted down the rankings. [Read More]

Ralph D. Russo – Seattle PI

LSU and Alabama are the top two teams in the country one month before their game in Tuscaloosa. The SEC West rivals held the first two spots in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday as the second-ranked Crimson Tide jumped past No. 3 Oklahoma. Alabama’s rise gives the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the country for the 10th time in the last four seasons. And for the first time since 2000, the Nos. 1 and 2 teams reside in the same division. The Tide beat Florida 38-10 on Saturday night in Gainesville, then received 12 first-place votes in the media rankings. LSU remained No. 1 for a second straight week, receiving 40 first-place votes and 1,473 points. Alabama had 1,435 points. The Tigers play the Tide on Nov. 5 in a game that could ultimately decide the division – and much more. Oklahoma, which started the season No. 1 before slipping behind LSU last week, got seven first-place votes. [Read More]

Ian Hanford – Bleacher Report

The Alabama Crimson Tide are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 matchup against the Florida Gators. The Tide are ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25. Sitting behind LSU and Oklahoma. In their four victories, the Tide have been dominant. Their average margin of victory is just over 30 points per game. Two of their first four opponents are Top 25 teams. In the case of Penn State, not anymore. The Oklahoma Sooners are the No. 1 team in the nation. They began the season at the top, and have not relinquished their position. The Sooners have a 3-0 record with one huge win over then-No. 5 Florida State. The LSU Tigers also sit ahead of the Tide. Currently ranked No. 2, the Tigers have secured three victories against Top 25 teams on their way to a 4-0 start. Victories over Oregon and West Virginia are tremendous bonuses. An undefeated LSU team will have a bulletproof BCS resume. A lopsided victory to open SEC play adds to the debate. Who should be the top team in the nation? [Read More]

Looks like the coaches are first on the board with the preseason poll hype. Oklahoma, Alabama, Oregon and LSU all garnered some first place votes. The defending champion Auburn Tigers come in at 19th. While that position is better than last season's preseason ranking, it is the lowest slot ever for a national champion since the USA Today poll premiered in 1991.

National Signing Day has come and gone, so now it's time to evaluate the recruiting class of 2011 for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Many of this years recruits were decide early on in the recruiting process. In fact, eight recruits were already on campus by the time spring semester had begun, and before National Signing Day had even occurred. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban seems to be an unstoppable recruiting machine at this point after turning in top quality recruiting classes back to back every year, ever since he set foot on the University of Alabama campus as head coach. This recruiting class is no exception to that trend except that it may be one of Saban's and Alabama's best recruiting classes ever. Even with relatively few holes to fill on either side of the ball for Alabama, many of the elite athletes in the nation continue to come to Tuscaloosa to compete for a starting position amongst the best players of the Alabama football squad.